Supporting Statement (11-2011)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

Advance Notification Form: Tourist and Other Non-Governmental Activities in the Antarctic Treaty Area
OMB Number 1405-0181
DS-4131

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Collection of information on the Advance Notification Form allows the U.S. Government to meet its obligation, under Article VII(5)(a) of the Antarctic Treaty, to inform other Contracting Parties of plans by U.S. tourist and other non-governmental operators to visit the Antarctic Treaty area.

“5. Each Contracting Party shall, at the time when the present Treaty enters into force for it, inform the other Contracting Parties, and thereafter shall give them notice in advance of:

a) all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the part of its ships or nationals, and all expeditions to Antarctica organized in or proceeding from its territory.”

2. The Department of State uses the information requested on the Advance Notification Form to determine whether an intended tourist or other non-governmental activity is organized in or proceeding from U.S. territory and, if so, to prepare a pre-season notification to other Parties to the Treaty containing specifics of each intended expedition. Upon determination that an activity falls under U.S. jurisdiction, U.S. expeditions must comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that implement other obligations under the Treaty’s Protocol on Environmental Protection requiring the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment. The content of the proposed Advance Notification Form has been cleared with the EPA, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

3. The DS-4131, Advance Notification Form, will be submitted by non-governmental operators to the Department of State’s Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs in signed original format. Advance copies of the form are submitted by e-mail pending physical receipt of a signed original. An electronic version of the form (and the software needed to complete the form) is accessible to the public for downloading on the Antarctica page of the Department of State’s Travel.State.Gov web site (http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_5173.html).

4. Information collected on the Advance Notification Form does not duplicate information otherwise collected by the U.S. Government. Information on the form supplements information separately provided by U.S. operators to the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a required Environmental Impact Assessment process and to the National Science Foundation for operators who need to apply for waste permits.

5. Since most U.S.-based Antarctic tour operators are familiar with the Advance Notification Process and accustomed to providing the requested information, no significant impact will be placed on small businesses outside of normal business practices.

6. Failure to collect information requested on the Advance Notification Form may prevent the United States from being able to comply with a Treaty obligation.

7. There are no special circumstances associated with this collection.

8. The Department published a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment and received one comment. This comment recommended consolidation of government functions that have separate authorities. Action on that recommendation is not feasible by the Department at this time.

9. There are no payments or gift to respondents.

10. The Department of State provides no assurance of confidentiality regarding the information collected.

11. The Advance Notification Form does not collect any information of a sensitive nature.

12. Approximately 22 respondents per year provide advance notification of a tourist or other non-governmental expedition to Antarctica organized in, or proceeding from, the United States. Notifications are made once per year, typically three to four months before travel. The form may address a number of intended activities ranging from an excursion by one private person to several voyages by each of several vessels, or aircraft, operated by a large commercial enterprise. It is estimated that a single private operator may require as few as three hours to complete the form while a commercial operator, with complicated vessel sub-chartering issues, may require more than 50 hours to complete the form. On average, collecting the information requested takes respondents 10.5 hours. Using 22 respondents as a baseline, the estimated total burden is 231 hours.

13. The vast majority of the respondents are established, commercial Antarctic tour operators, almost all of whom are members of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO). As such, they are very familiar with the advance notification process (and IAATO’s own reporting requirements). Thus, the compilation and reporting of this information is already in their business plans and there is no additional cost to business beyond normal business practices.

14. The cost to the federal government for this collection is approximately $3,278 (22 respondents x 2 hours processing/response x $74.51/hr. (for an FS-01)).

15. This is a renewal of an ongoing collection. There are no changes in the burden.

16. The Department of State will disseminate the results of this collection of information to other USG agencies involved in implementing the Treaty and the Environmental Protocol, and to other Parties to the Treaty. Certain expedition information may be posted on the National Science Foundation’s and the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat’s web sites in order to facilitate notification of and access by all Parties to the Treaty.

17. The Department will display the OMB expiration date on the DS-4131.

18. There are no exceptions sought for this collection.

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.